Updates: Where I've Been Since Our Last Meeting

Now that we have all the heavy stuff out of the way (for now), let’s talk about what has happened since I last wrote in this blog.  I’m not sure I can remember the last time I did post something; the most recent article I can remember writing was two years ago.  Obviously, there’s a lot that I could cover given that range, but I want to touch on just a couple personal highlights, what’s happening in my field of study, and a look at where this blog is heading in February. 

First of all, let’s get the popular question out of the way.  This is my last semester of college.  No, I don’t know what’s coming next other than I will be living here in Springfield at least for the next two years while my fiancée, who will become my wife in that time, gets her master’s degree at Missouri State.  Which lead me straight into the second and, in my humble opinion, biggest highlight for the last two years…

I’m getting married this year!  The last time I remember writing for the blog, I had just started dating my best friend, Noel.  I’ll spare everyone the sappy details, but every moment since then has been the best of my life.  She is still my best friend, so this past November, I asked her to spend the rest of her life with me.  

I don’t talk about my artistic exploits enough on this blog, and considering I am trying to make a career out of it, it only seems fitting to discuss what I’ve been up to in that area.  When this blog was last updated, I had just wrapped up a production of My Fair Lady here at Evangel.  That fall, Noel and I struck out on our own to direct a Broadway revue concert to raise funds and donations for a local elementary school.  

Turns out, I love directing almost as much as performing (Did I mention Noel and I got to go on TV to promote it?).  To say it was a trial by fire would be an understatement, but there is no education like being right in the thick of things and having no choice but to figure out how to accomplish your goal.  It was a very similar experience a year later, fall of 2020, when I became the music director and accompanist for a radio production of It’s A Wonderful Life.  These have been two of the most valuable learning experiences in the last four years for me. 

Speaking of It’s A Wonderful Life, in my senior year, I have been afforded the opportunity to play two very iconic roles.  The music director position came a few days before the first readthrough of the show, and I was already cast in the show as the lovable angel, Clarence.  Being the overcommitted person I am, I didn’t think twice about taking both responsibilities on, and somehow, we pulled it together.  This semester, I get the second of those iconic roles as I am portraying Schroeder in You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown.  (Shameless plug, we are doing live shows April 8-11; tickets go on sale soon.)

Before I close this, I want to share with you, what I have planned for Given to Words this month.  I will be sharing my discoveries and new year’s decisions concerning business, money, and university life.  Next week, I’m going talk about the small business Noel and I started last spring during lockdown, what has come of it, and what I’ve learned so far.  After that, I will share some decisions I made concerning where my money goes this year, and we will close February with some thoughts on my final semester of college.

If you already miss the more intense posts, don’t go anywhere, I have more drama planned for March.  

Until then, thank you for continuing on this journey of creative expression with me.  

Resolutions In A Broken Year

It’s that wonderful time of the year again.  The turn of the year is my time to sit and reflect upon the previous year, set goals for the new year, and of course, purge my social media of all the people whose timelines do not contribute productively to society.  

Now, I want to scream every time someone says this phrase, but yes, this year has been different.  And the process I face at the end of this year is different because of it.  I took one look at last year’s goals and decided to pass on recording how I did.  And my annual social media culling promises to be very exciting.

When it comes to setting goals for the next year, I find myself facing even more pause.  In fact, if I’m being completely honest, when I first thought about it, it felt wrong to prepare New Year’s resolutions.  

Let’s face it, this year has been a difficult and taxing season, a stupid and needless tragedy.  What began for me as a firm and successful commitment to keep my life moving even as the world came to a sudden stop has evolved into a numb, brooding resignation.  I’ve tried to write about what’s around me, to lend my voice to a revolution that needs to happen, but I’ve never felt that I could do any more than add a decibel to all the wicked noise.  Yet, the longer I wait, the more my thoughts eat at me, and the more I think about just trashing the resolutions for this year, the more I balk at my own passivity.  

So here I am, writing once again.  Maybe all this will do is add to the noise.  I cannot know for sure or be concerned with finding out.  I have to speak.  I have to write.  If not for a blog and what faithful remnant of old readers is finding this then for myself.

All this to say that I am indeed setting bold goals for myself in 2021.  The intense year we have faced requires an intense answer.  I’m disoriented after the past 10 months, I must admit.  Among my goals for the new year is the use of this blog to reorient and express myself.  There are things I have wanted to say, topics I have wanted to address, and I am going to use this platform to address them.  With that being said, let me use the rest of this post to look ahead.  

This month is dedicated to a series I am calling “Hot Take.”  So many things are on my mind after this year, and I am going to share my thoughts after 10 months of reflecting on current events.  Next week, I am going to share more about my outlook for 2021 and establish the lens with which I will be looking at everything else. The journey will go from there.  

This is an open invitation.